THE WEST SHORE.
the Sandwich Islands, (he Tono,
arrived off the mouth of the Columbia
river on the 22d of March, 1S1 1. But
the joy with which the passengers
regarded their destined port was very
soon turned into mourning.
The ship was lying about three miles
offshore, and the breakers of the Col
umbia could be plainly seen, as the
wind was blowing in heavy squalls.
Capt. Thorn, however, determined to
send a boat to sound out the channel,
which he did. According to Franchere
who witnessed the proceedings, the
boat was unfitted with a good sail, or
a mast, and entirely incapable of such
service as was required of her. The
partners remonstrated with the Cap.
tain, but to no effect, and they saw the
first mate, Mr. Fox, and four of the
Company's men pull away from the
ship which they never again returned
to. 1 he next day, the boat not return
ing and the wind being increased in
violence, the ship hauled off to sea as
evening came on, "with all counte
nances extremely sail, not excepting the
Captain's, who appeared to be as much
afflicted as the rest of us, and who hail
reason to be so." On the third day the
weather improved, and the ship again
approached the shore. Two boats were
sent out during the day to find a place
to land, but not finding any, and the
sen still being high, they returned for
tunatcly in safety. Hut a favorable
breeze springing up, the Captain de
termined to try the entrance, and dis
patched the pinnace to pilot the ship
through the breakers. (Jetting under
way, the ship passed the boat and sig
nals were made to her to come on
board; but the ebb tide carried her
with such rapidity that she could not
accomplish it, and in a few moments
those on ship board had "lost sight of
her amidst the tremendous breakers
that surrounded us." The wind fail
ing and night coming on, it was a
chance if the ship got in at all; but this
she did at last, after repeatedly striking
on the sands, and anchored in seven
fathoms, though still in danger from
the ebb tide, "with two men at the
wheel to hold her head in the right di
rection." Heforc morning, however,
the flood tide and a change in the wind
helped the ship in as far as Baker's
Bay, where she came again to anchor
in safety, and where all on board had
the rest they so much required. This
was the fourth day, and though very
little doubt could be entertained of the
fate of -the boat crews that had been
left to the violence of the waves, yet
search along the shore was immediate
ly begun, the Captain himself joining
in it.
About noon the Captain returned to
the ship having with him one man, the
the ship's carpenter, who had been in
the pinnace when she was left behind
in the breakers, and from him the fate
of the others was acertained. Soon
after the boat had been passed by the
ship, a wave struck her amidships and
capsized her. Two of the crew were
lost immediately, but the man and two
Sandwich Islanders were able to strip
off their clothing, and finally to seize
and right the boat, which being baled
out with the bauds of the first one en
tering, the others were able to get on
board, Before it was quite dark they
had picked up their oars, but were
without a rudder. The men being
naked were in danger of freezing, and
the American tried hard to make the
Islanders row in order to keep life in
them; but one soon died of cold and
despair, and the other threw himself on
his friend's bodv and refused to stir.
Weeks (this was the survivor's name)
kept in motion by sculling all night,
and when day broke succeeded in get
ling to shorc,where leaving the dead and
still brcathm? Is Kinder, h,. c.,ll....i .
footpath that brought him to where he
was met by the Captain, not far from
the vessel. Tne bodies of those who
perished first were never discovered,
nor of the two who were drowned on
the upsetting of the pinnace. The
Islander whom Weeks left in the
woods, was found and restored to life!
but eight persons had perished in the
foolhardy attempt of Capt. Thorn to
enter a strange river through a threat
ening surf, and his guilt in exposing
his officers and men to the breakers in
sman boats. Ihc first mate, Mr. Fox,
""" i" go upon tne latal errand,
remarking that his bones would he
laid beside his father's, who had been
lost near the mouth of the Columbia
wnue on a trading voyage. Thd
names of those who thus sadly endee
their long voyage and their lives were
Fox, John Martin, Joseph Na-
dem, Ignacc Lepensee anil Basil I.c
pensee, of the first boat's crew, and Mr
Aiken, John Coles and the Sandwich
Islander of the second.
Thus began Mr. Astor's expedition.
When the Joaquin had discharged her
cargo, and the Company had begun to
build huuses and a schooner, the tim
ber! for which were brought out with
them, they took courage and hoped yet
to forget the shadow that had been
thrown over them. But If misfortune
attacked them at the very seat of their en
erprise, they were no "less unfortunate
everywhere else. In the latter part of
the summer, news came of a very dis
tressing character. Up to this time the
Indi am hail appeared to be very friend
ly, and were a great deal about the
tort. This fort, by the way was a
stockade inclosing a powder magazine,
storehouse, sixty-two feet long by
twenty broad, and such other building's
as were needed, built of logs hewn
square, and roofed with cedar bark.
Bastions for the mounting of cannon
were afterward added.
As we were saying above, the
Indians had seemed' friendly until in
the latter part of summer they sud
denly and without apparent cause,
withdrew themselves from the neigh
borhood of the fort, and behaved in a
manner to awaken suspicion. By means
of an Indian personally friendly to Mr.
R. Stuart, one of the partners, a ru
mor reached the Company that the
Tomptxn had been destroyed by the
northern Indians, and all her crew mur
dered. Though the rumor was too
monstrous to be believed, it continued
to be asserted by the Chehalis tribe,
who brought the story first to the
Chinooks; and the Company thought
best to strengthen their defenses and
keep up their drill. Before they had any
certain news of the late of the7'oMvw,
old one-eyed Comcomly, chief of the
Chinooks, whom Captain Thorn hated,
hut for whom Mr. McDougal rather
aflected a liking on account of his hand
some daughter, and whose son-in-law
he afterwards became tins rascally old
Chinook chief had concerted a plan for
the destruction of the Company and the
plunder of the fort. Two Indian
women secretly gave warning w hich
saved them from falling into the trap.
Thus passed the first summer at As
toria. As winter approached and the
Tonquin did not return, the alarm be
came considerable, though the partners
tried to tlatter themselves that she had
sailed for China with a cargo of furs.
Mr. Hunt, one of the principal mem
bers of the companv, who was to lead
an expedition overland, was also now
overdue and the much Cause of anxiety.
On the other hand, and In upport hope,
several expeditions had been made
to the interior, Where the country had
been found to be agreeable and fruitful
and where several trading xsts had
been established. 1 he gentlemen ol
the company admired the fine scenery
ol the Columbia, and as for the
kitchen garden at the fort, such jMita
loes, turnips and radishes were never
seen. One turnip wighed fifteen and
a half pounds. Hut nothing came to
ripeness aliovc the ground. 14 Still,"
says Franchere, in contrast with the
sea, " wa tnougtu Astoria a paradise.
The history of Oregon subsequently
to the Astoria expedition, is related by
so many well-known authors that it
would be superfluous to re-write it for
the columns of the West SituitE.
There are, however, many romantic
incidents connected with it that deserve
a special effort at preservation, and
which will be made the subject of
another series of articles in the not dis
tant future.
NOTES AND REMINISCENCES.
LAVISH OCT An Iwaiimihim imii.
MIURAN T ROAH INTO A Nil THROl'CH SOITU-
wammja i.i I HI YEAS I.S40
BY LINDSAY amaoATfc
(Continued.) from Humboldt M?aos to Fort
amm ana oar to mack ,
Our object was to locate the road
direct from near the head of the Hum
boldt to Hear river, leaving Fort Hall
titty or sixty miles to the northward.
Our stock of provisions being almost
exhausted, we decided to dispatch a
party, with the strongest animals, to
I'ort Hail at. once, for supplies, while
the rest of us would move along more
slowly, making such improvements on
the road as seemed necessary, and per
haps reaching the head of the river in
time to meet the Fort Hall party there
on its return. Accordingly, on the
morning of the 25th of July, Jesse Ap
plegatc, Moses Harris, Henry Boygua,
David Uofl and John Owens, left us
for Fort Hall. The pi ace decided on
for the reunion of the party was known
as Hot Spring or Thousand Spring
valley, on the Humboldt. I shall not
undertake, after this date, to give a de
tailed statement of our experiences, un
til the conclusion of our journey in the
fall, only mentioning the most im
portant incidents of the long ami weari
some campaign.
The journey up the Humboldt,
through a country so uniformly alike
the entire distance, was quite monot
onous. The sluggish stream, fringed
with willows on either side, flowing
through a narrow valley bounded bv
dry volcanic ridges, gradually increased
in volume as wc advanced towards its
source, as the water wastes away in
the dry, sandy region through which
it Hows. Like the Nile, this stream
rises sufficiently every year to overflow
and fertilize its valley, so that it pro
duces the finest grass. Since 1S43, im
migrants had occasionally traveled
down this stream to its sink, and had
thence crossed the high, snow y range
of the Sierra Nevada, from Truckee
run via Donner lake, to the Sacramento
valley; and as we proceeded up the
river, we frequently met small parties,
like ourselves, sunburned and covered
with alkali dust, and worn and Wearied
by the long and difficult journey.
Game was our principal dependence
for food, and this wc found exceedingly
scarce along the Humboldt, and the
thousands of Indians who Inhabited the
valley at this season Hemcd to subsist
chiefly upon grasshoppers and crickets,
which were abundant.
One day, during our march through
this country, Capt. Scott and mvself,
leaving the party on the west side,
crossed the river for the purpose of
hunting, and, while pursuing a band ol'
antelope, came upon wagon tracks, lead
ing away from the river towards a rocky
gulch among the hills, two or three
miles distant. Several wagons seemed
to have been in tin train, and on either
side of the plain tracks made by the
wagon wheels in the loose sand, were
numerous bare-foot tracks. Following
the trail into the mouth of (he gulch,
we found where the wagons had been
burned, only the ruins being left among
the ashes. We found no human re
mains, yet the evidences were plain
that a small train of immigrants had
been taken here not a great while be
fore, and that they had perished at the
hands of their blood-thirsty captors, not
one having escaped to recite the awful
talc ot horror. Possibly the bodies of1
the victims had been thrust into the
river. 1'ossibly the drivers had been
compelled to drive their teams across
the age plains into this wild ravine,
here to I slaughtered and their bodies
burned. By a more extended search
along the river ami among the hills,
we might possibly ha e found some of
the bodies of the victims, and might
have obtained some clue as to who
the ill-fated immigrants were, but even
this was not practicable at the time, and
we could only hurry on, with sad
hearts, to overtake the train far up the
river.
On the 5th of August, we reached
Hot Spring valley, having traveled, 1
nearly as we could judge, about two
hundred miles along the river, tv
the 10th the Fort Hall pnrtv rrlwnfrf
to us with a supply of provisions, anil
on the 11th vy e t u r ned our faces
towards our homes, w hich wc judged
to be eight or nine hundred miles dis
tant. Before the party of five-reached Fort
Hall, one of them, young Hovgus, hear
ing that a son of Capt. Grant, com
mander of Fort Hall, had recently
started for Canada, via St, Louis, con
cluded to leave the party, and, hy;
forced marches, endeavor to ovcitakn
Grant, as he was anxious to return- t
his home in Missouri. Hovgus was
brave and determined, and expecting
to meet immigrants occasionally, he sat
out alone on his hazardous undertak
ing. We never heard of him after
wards, and his fate has always, remained
a mystery. There was, perhaps, truth
in the report current afterwards, that
his gun and horses were seen in the
possession of an Indian at Fort Hall,
and it is most likely that he was fol
lowed by Indians from the very mo
ment he left his companions, and slain,
as many a poor fellow has been while
all alone upon the great plains.
At Fort Hall tin- party of four met
witli a considerable train of immigrants,,
with some of whom they were aiquani
ted, who decided to come to Oregon
by way of our route. This train closely
followed our companions on their re
turn, and reached Hot Spring valley
before our departure. Heforc starting
011 the morning of July llth, a small
party of young men from the immi
grant train generously volunteered tOf
accompany us and assist in opening trwr
road. These weroi Thomas Powers.
Hinges, Shaw, Carnahan, Alfred
Stewart, Charles Putnam, ami two
others whose names I now disremem-
bcr. A Bannock Indian, from about
the head of Snake river, also joined u.
This Increased our road party to twen
ty-one men, exclusive of Scott and
GolT, who remained to guide and nil. or,
wise assist the immigrants on their way
to ( )regon
Nothing worthy of mention occurrcif
during our return along the valley of
the Humboldt, and not until we left
the river and proceeded westward
towards Hl.u k Rock The lirst night
after leaving the river we spent at the
spring found by Scott and Parker, Ob
the 22(1 of July. This we called Dia
mond Spring. Reaching this point
about noon, we spent several hours in
liggiug out a basin at the spring, whicb
soon filled with pure, cold water.
Fifteen miles travel, the ne! day,,
over 0 good route, brought us, at noon,,
to the Rabbit Hole Springs. VVe KOOfii
improved this spring considerably, ami,
at about 2 1. m., tonk up our line of
march lor Iflack Kock, whu h wr
reached at nightfall. Alter we wen
out two or three miles from Diamond
Springs this mot ning, our Hamiock
Indian discovered that he had left his
butcher-knife, and, tving his nonv to a
sage-bush, started back to the springs
on a run, supposing he could easily
overtake us, as w e would be delayed
considerably at Rabbit Hole Spring -at
any rate, be would hire no troubtt
in following our trail. We aw him.
no mure, and conjectured that he must
have fallen a prev to the Diggers, whn
continually shadowed us as we traveled
through their country, always ready to
profit by any advantage given them,
it ottmutd t